Saturday July 25th 2009
We are in San Jose the capital of Costa Rica . Jessica and myself arrived yesterday morning exhausted from a sleepless night. Our flight was at 2:40 am and it was only five hours long. We arrived 5:30 am due to the time difference of two hours to a muggy, smoggy, bustling San Jose. The weather seemingly changes every five minutes including the temperature. One moment its sweltering and the next a bit chilly. One moment it´s sunny and the other it´s cloudy and or raining. We took public transport to get to the city avoiding all the taxi drivers hawking us and got on the bus with the locals. The humidity and strench of fuel exhaust reminded me a lot of Havana. I must say on it´s best day San Jose is NO Havana. I hear it grows on one but it has yet to do so and we do not intend on staying and see if it does. The city reminds me also a bit of a smaller, more boring. less poor La Paz, Boliva in that its in valley with mountains surrounding it making on climb steep hills to and fro. The valley I suspect also helps keep the noxious clouds of pollution from escaping.
Yesterday, when we arrived we were way too early to check in and there was no room emptied yet. We had to wait till one and we arrived before seven at the hotel. We went eat at a local Soda (a Costa Rican diner) and enjoyed breakfast which consisted of a chesse omlette, buttered toast and gallo de pinto (rice and beans). We had coffee and tea respectively with steamed milk. It cost two dollars basically. Later for dinner we had arroz con pollo and pescado frito both served with salad, plantains, mine with rice and beans and hers with fries. The food we ate in the mercado central (central market) and cost two dollars or so for an entree. Jessica has never encountered such low prices and is enjoying it. For me I missed it as my last trips abroad have been to Germany and Israel which are not cheap and not easy on the wallet. We are staying at a nice but basic hotel. Its several old houses connected by gardens that is kept spotless. Its about fifteen minute walk to the center and most notably only 25 dollars a night for both of us. Jessica bought her first back pack, head lamp and hiking shoes for this trip. I am turning her into a back packer! (or trying). She has been very good about it all considering how foreign it is to her. Its a different manner of travel than she is accustomed to. She packed lighter than me even! Her pack weighing only 24 pounds and mine weighs 34 pounds not including all my photo gear but granted I packed things for both of us.
We walked around and the crowded streets to various plazas and had a beer at a cool locale that reminded me of a beer hall with very high ceilings and was open air and was on a second story above the pedestrian walk way below where we people watched. The city itself is full of concrete and not just the buildings and side walks. The street lamps are made of concrete, the trash cans, the benches, the monuments and everything you can imagine or not imagine is made of concrete. I have seen this in other poor nations which lacked natural resources like iron, hard stone and others. The streets are dirty, the air horrible, the plazas are modern looking and full of concrete. In short not a very attractive or inviting city exept for one saving grace which is the people are friendly and helpful. Last night Jessica fell asleep early and I was restless so I went out alone. I stopped some foreigners on the street and asked them where is good to go out. They were heading to a bar and invited me along. It was two girls (an italian and a French girl and two french guys). We all spoke in Spanish and I have been holding my own which I m proud of. They lived here and worked with an NGO and we walked to a bar in the California neigborhood. The streets were full of underage drinkers hanging out getting drunk. The bars here check ids of everyone. The bar was large with different rooms. They played a MJ tribute for awhile with blown speakers. The beers were ice cold and so cold one was frozen which although I drank half of it till I realized it was frozen they replaced it for free. I hung out with this very pretty Italian girl and her Costa Rican guy friend (who oddly reminded me of myself), we spoke for awhile and the Italian girl bought us beers. I got drunk and at one point with out saying good bye I just left since I felt it was time. I was not that drunk but I drank enough on an empty stomach and was dehydrated. I found my way by foot back to the hotel although the guide books and locals said DO NOT WALK AT NIGHT. The foreigers I met felt it was safe though and I always think fuck it i am a New Yorker! I walked back late, drunk, with stray cats and sleeping people in the streets to keep me company. Jessica was sound asleep and I climbed into bed smelling of cigarrettes and beer. I woke up hung over and queasy. I spent my day recooperating in bed. We went out for awhile but I felt like throwing up which I didn´t but wanted to. I slept more and later we went out to dinner. This time I had the arroz con pollo and she had spagetti and sauce. The fruit juice was wonderful we drank morra (sp?), and a mixed one with papaya, pineapple and morra. We walked around and nearly stumbled into a very bad neighborhood but our spidey sense told us to walk back. We walked around looking for a place to have a drink in the dark streets against being warned not to do so. It was sketch and a bit nerve racking but thankfully uneventful. Jessica was very brave but got startled when three youths headed towards with one had his hand in the pocket. Jessica´s instinct said lets go but I deliberately was looking at the map in front of a five star hotel which was near, well lit and had an attendent. I chided her a bit and she hates to be chided. One I told her let me decide who is threat or not when possible, two never run or show fear to predators, and three do not run from the brightly lit lobby but TO the lobby! It was fine we even saw the same kids on an desolate street later and they ignored us. In the end Jessica was not in the mood for a beer and we walked back to the hotel but ended up looking for a poor kitten we saw earlier with cans of tuna. The orange and white kitten seemed sickly and hungry. We never found it but gave tuna to some other strays. We got back not so long ago and she is in the room and I am on the computer blogging. We are unsure where we are going tomorrow and will decide that now...
I did not write this as descriptively as I might have but this will suffice for now...

Reptile brains versus the Monkey brains (not proof read)

I am unsure why I find myself up at these late hours. I have done so since I was a child. I stay awake even if I am tired like now. I think it might have to do with me having "adult ADD" and having "my motor running". In fact it seems that my later in life diagnosis is disturbingly accurate. How is it that it took so long for me and well others to realize I have ADD? This is because I do have the hyperactivity associated with those with ADHD. As a child I constantly day dreamed, wandered off, was messy, my book bag was always disorderly, I was always late, my mouth ran a mile a minute, my mind raced, I talked non-stop (as my Mom always said that once I opened my mouth I never stopped), and I still have many of these (well all of) these traits and behaviorism's. I do not belief ADD is a disorder, nor is it a limitation (although it can be), I think there are challenges involved living in a farmer society while I am clearly a hunter. The farmers won (for now), they beat the hunters and gatherers of the world. They through their farming, not moving around and planning were able to raise large armies, displace hunter and gatherer populations and develop advanced weapons and technology. It is the farmers of the world that are destroying it. If people lived like me and other hunters the world would be in harmony with us. It is clear that farming is unnatural and destructive. The hunters are many creative types and flexible thinkers. I have come to realize that these farmer people are somewhat robotic and perhaps possess a more reptilian brain. I have nothing to base the reptilian brain theory since I just made it up more or less but I think there may be some truth to this. I will leave it to neuroscientist to prove me right!

In some ways robotic reptile people fascinate me and I have at times admired their robot/reptile ways. They seem to have an internal clock that tells them where to go and they are good at following orders as sheep might. I find this to be interesting and again there is a passivity in the brain that allows them to behave this way. On the other hand coming to the realization that my so called creativity, the way I think, my well known candor are considered to be ADD symptoms I find to be disconcerting. Still regardless of the difficulties I have coping at times in this robot world I would choose my monkey brain over being a reptile any day of the week! In fact I have come to pity linear thinkers somewhat as it's clear their lives and thoughts are not as interesting as those with spiral thinking abilities and the ability to freely associate. There are advantages in linear thinking for those who desire to "fit in", "get ahead", and "achieve". These linear thinking people (no offense if any are reading this) are good at being programmed and following their programming. This makes them good managers, accountants, financial geeks, computer nerds, soulless bankers, and other jobs that require consistent programming and rule bound minds. The unknown truth about ADD is that it's not that we have a deficit in attention the issue at hand is that we pay attention to too much. Imagine if you can hundreds of thoughts coming at the same time at any given second. This would drive a robot brain mad. Perhaps one analogy would be that people with ADD are Macs and Robot brain people are PCs. The PC finds it hard to do too much at once and will crash. The mac is used for creative purposes and can withstand multi-tasking better. I am so sorry that those out there who own macs but have pc brains must find this out. You thought you were a mac but you so obviously are not! No worries you are still Bill Gates child and that counts for something right! Now if we could get those viruses, and spyware out of your head! Ha!

Now that I know what I am or rather how I think or do not think I find it easier to adopt to the reptilian/farmer/robot way. It's ok to be a robot, farmer reptile! DO not worry! You are right at home in your kingdom! You have temporary dominion over the rest of us. You have destroyed all the animals, plants, and hunter-gathers that have gotten in your way. You should be proud! You are a powerful virus and have spread virulently. You have manipulated the world to suit your reptile brains and have destroyed every thing in your path to do so! You know who you are. Many of you seem to admire creative thinkers, just as creative thinkers admire robot brains. I am not one that organizing, filing, cleaning, being methodical comes easily. I must try hard to do these things. I see that many of you have nothing to say sometimes. I do not envy that but its a useful thing to learn. There is value in being a good listener. We tend to talk or be alone. When I do not feel like speaking I go to be alone. I am alone most of the time but when I am social, I am especially social.

I am writing this tongue and cheek. Its way too late and past 5am. I am waiting on my camera to finish uploading the latest photos I took. Its taken much longer than I planned and my eyes are heavy. I am trying to learn to be more efficient with my time so I can advance among the robots. I am not one of them but I need to pass for one at times. I need to behave like these clock heads. I need to use my time wisely and produce. I have the potential to make large sums of money and I am finally desiring to do so. It was never of importance to me and I always had too much going on to focus on myself and my ambitions (which are abundant). I see people around me thinking small and I am not that person. Please work on your gold watch and pension, its good for you! It's your destiny! It is not mine. We can see how well society has served the peons and other slaves who served it. It's the economy stupid! it's angry! You have failed to please it. You bad, bad, bad cog! Now, what are you doing reading this? Get back to work and make someone some money! Now! Make yourself some cash too so you can keep your cog like self nice and lubricated. We can't have you breaking down now!

Ok I need to wash up as my photos are uploaded...its 5:19 am and I need to be up ten thirty. Please keep being who you are and I will continue being who I am...
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